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A Rock and a Hard Place
A Rock and a Hard Place is the first chapter of Among Thieves. After awakening inside a dangling train carriage, Nathan Drake had to climb his way up to safety or end up falling to his death. Plot Cliffhanger Upon waking up, Nate looked around, unaware of what was going on. After feeling some stinging pain, he looked below to find himself bleeding heavily from a wound in his abdomen. While he stared out the window, several objects began falling down toward him, and he realized that the carriage was hanging off the edge of a cliff. Nate's bench fell away, forcing him to make a upward leap to higher one, only for it fall down as well, sending him falling down as well. Fortunately, he broke his fall on the exterior handrail at the lower end of the carriage. After gaining a firm grip on it, he carefully climbed the wrecked carriage to reach safety at the top of the cliff. This carriage was being held up by a second carriage, which sat atop the cliff edge. As Nate entered this second carriage, it began to slid off. After running through the slipping carriage, he made one leap toward the cliff, narrowly escaping death at great heights. After climbing back up, he passed out. The Lost Fleet In a flashback, Nate was drinking alone at a beach bar, shortly before being approached by Harry Flynn, an old partner in crime. He informed Nate that a "client" was willing to pay a huge sum of money if they could steal an artifact from the Istanbul Palace Museum's Travels of Marco Polo exhibit. Nate initially refused, pointing out that both he and Flynn know two people who were killed pulling off this kind of heist. Flynn pointed out, however, that Nate was the only one ever to have made it out (barely), and that he could not handle it without him and that it would be a two-person job, with Nate correctly pointing out that it would be a three-person job, seconds before Chloe Frazer joined them. Nate, recognizing Chloe, was surprised, but kept quiet about their history when she pretended not to know him. Flynn began laying out the plan, which was as follows: Nate and Flynn would enter through the sewer, before climbing up to the museum's courtyard. From there, they would climb to the rooftops, which they would run along until reaching the tower where the artifact would be held. Chloe would aid them by switching off the museum's floodlights, allowing them to move without being seen. At this point, Flynn revealed what they were after: an oil lamp. Claiming that the artifact was worthless, Nate saw no point in going after it until Flynn revealed a journal entry, which he "borrowed" from his client, written sometime during the 13th century. As Nate translated the Latin journal entry, he realized that it was written by Marco Polo. Translating the rest, he and Chloe realized that the entry referred to the "lost fleet". Flynn, initially believing it all to be gibberish, asked what they were talking about. Nate filled him in on the details of Polo's voyage. Marco Polo left China with 600 passengers and fourteen ships loaded with treasure from Kublai Khan. A year and a half later, he arrived in Persia with only one ship left and eighteen passengers. Nate mentioned that despite recording every detail of his journey, Polo never revealed what happened to the thirteen ships, the passengers or the treasure. They then discerned that this is what Flynn's "client" was after. Examining the image of the lamp closer, Nate realized that it must have been a gift to Polo from Kublai Khan. Flynn and Chloe remembered a line from Polo's journal: "The light of the great Khan shelters the faith of the thirteen." Nate pointed out that Polo probably hid a clue inside the lamp, a clue that pinpoints the location of the lost fleet. As a final thought, the three decided that they were going to betray Flynn's client and go after the treasure for themselves. With the plan in place, Nate agreed to partake, believing it to be a solid heist. The train wreckage Back in the present time, Nate awakened atop the cliff and proceeded through the wreckage of the train, somewhere in the mountains, trapped in a blizzard. The burning train wreckage was strewn around a snow-covered plateau. Throughout the wreckage, he passed the bodies of dead soldiers, and at one point, encountered a live one, who was quickly killed from an unexpected blast. As Nate proceeded through the wreckage, the fire around him cause a fuel carriage to explode. The explosion dislodged another carriage, which barreled down a slope and hit the carriage Nate was in, causing it to tumble over several times, knocking Nate unconscious. Mostly Professional In another flashback, Chloe arrived at Nate's hotel room, shortly after their beach bar meeting. They alluded to a past relationship, before Nate questioned her about her current relationship with Flynn. As the two shared an intimate moment on Nate's bed, Chloe assured him that the relationship was "mostly professional", which Nate was not pleased with. Nate asked what the plan was, and it was just like they discussed before—split the treasure three ways, before disappearing together, abandoning Flynn. Before two made out on the bed, Chloe warned Nate that Flynn could not find out about them until after they have found the treasure. Nate worried that Flynn would be "pissed". Before she leaned in to kiss Nate, Chloe assured him that Flynn was going to be "fine". The Phurba Back at the present, Nate regained consciousness and proceeded on his pained journey through the wreckage, constantly hindered by his wound. Moving further away from the cliff, he came across a Phurba dagger sticking out of the snow. It was clearly of some importance, and he clutched it tightly within his blood-filled hands. The story then flashes back four months to the museum heist. Walkthrough Climbing the train The first part of the chapter involves a climbing sequence that re-introduces the basic movesets from Drake's Fortune. To have Nate jump or pull himself up ledges, press , and to move in either direction, press . Once you have control of Nate, move left along the yellow rail to the left to make it to the rear end of the dangling carriage. Begin ascending up the train along the right side. As you climb up, a boulder will fall down from the top and knock Nate down to a lower section. From there, continue climbing along the right side of the train. You will be prompted to jump when you can no longer climb up. Press the same button again to grab the ledge, then again to grab hold of another yellow rail. Move along the rail to the left. When you are in the middle of the rail, an object will fall and stop you for a second. After it falls, continue moving to the left until you grab a tall, yellow rail. Climb up this rail until it becomes severed. The force of Nate holding onto it will cause it give away and slam against the side of the carriage. You will then be prompted to hold in the direction you want to swing and jump. After grabbing hold of the ledge, shimmy over to the left, then climb up to where you will be standing somewhat inside the carriage. Press forward on , and then jump to reach one of the benches. Pull yourself on top of the ledge, then jump to a higher bench. Upon grabbing it, pull yourself up, then make another leap. Keep pressing until Nate stands up. Now hold down and press , and then again. Now hold to the right and climb along the train. Grab hold of the yellow rail here and ascend to its top. You can also jump up the rail. When the rail gives out, leap to the left and quickly pull Nate up. Continue climbing until he is at the very top of the carriage, and then jump to the yellow ladder, which he must ascend to pull himself up onto the train. The second he makes it inside the second carriage, he must now run forward, as the train will begin to slide off the cliff. At the very end of the carriage, make one leap to the cliff ahead, and Nate will pull himself up. Searching the wreckage After the flashback, Nate will wake up, and gameplay will continue. Head forward into the train wreck, and keep walking along the path through the train. After Nate squeezes his way through the narrow spot between two trains, look for a 92FS-9mm near the dead soldier. Also very close the gun is another treasure; make sure you grab it. Now walk to the door on the train near the dead body and press to open it. Enter the train, climb over the trail and pick up the ammo. Walk to the end of the train, hold L1 and then aim at the lock and press R1 to break it. Now press to open the door. You can also press R2 to reload your gun. When you come off the train, hold R1 and look up to shoot at the third treasure to make it fall. Now head forward and you'll see a soldier. He'll spot you and shoot at you. You can either shoot him back or just wait a second and let an explosion kill him. After this, continue moving forward and pick up the ammo the soldier had. When you enter another train car, head to the back of it and press on the door to push through it. Head forward and climb up the boxes. When you're on top of the boxes, climb up the rails to the top of the train and press . Jump off the train car and onto the other one, but don't move forward. Instead, jump off the train onto the large grey box. Head to the bottom of the screen and onto a small sectioned-off area on the ground where the fourth treasure is located. Once you have picked it up, climb back up into the train. Walk to the end of the train and when you reach the door, press to climb out of the train. After the cutscene, move the left analog stick around to wake Nate up. Look for the opening in the train and jump to the yellow rail. When you're on the rail, move along it to the right and pull yourself up onto the train. Head to the bottom of the screen and pick up the fifth treasure, then head to the other end of the train. When you have fallen, continue heading forward until the flashback begins. Category:Chapters in Among Thieves